The Eighteen Lesser Texts, known as the Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku () in the literature, is a collection of eighteen poetic works mostly created during the 'post Sangam period' (between 100 and 500 CE). The poems of this collection differ from the earlier works of the Eighteen Greater Texts (Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku), which are the oldest surviving Tamil poetry, in that the poems are written in the venpa meter and are relatively short in length. Naladiyar, having sung by 400 poets, is the only anthology in this collection. Each of the remaining works of the Eighteen Lesser Texts is sung by a single poet. Unlike the works of the Eighteen Greater Texts, most of the books of the Eighteen Lesser Texts deal with morals and ethics. Works of the "Eighteen lesser books" collection The Eighteen Lesser Texts contains the following books: Nālaṭiyār Nāṉmaṇikkaṭikai Iṉṉā Nāṟpatu Iṉiyavai Nāṟpatu Kār Nāṟpatu Kaḷavaḻi Nāṟpatu Aintiṇai Aimpatu Tiṉaimoḻi Aimpatu Aintinai Eḻupatu Tiṉaimalai Nūṟṟu Aimpatu Tirukkuṛaḷ Tirikaṭukam Ācārakkōvai Paḻamoḻi Nāṉūṟu Ciṟupañcamūlam Mutumoḻikkānci Elāti Kainnilai See also Eighteen Greater Texts Sangam literature List of historic Indian texts References Further reading Varadarajan, M, First International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 1966. External links Patinenkilkkanakku – Works on Akam theme, a translation of seven works by Prof. A. Dakshinamurthy (Thiruchirapalli: Bharathidasan University, 2010) Tamil-language literature